*stabby motions with stake*

[tardis_stowaway]

Have you heard the extremely worrisome news circulating?  Warner Brothers announced plans to do a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot movie.  It's not even ten years after the series went off the air, which is frankly too soon for a "reboot" under the best of circumstances.  These are FAR from the best of circumstances, because Joss Whedon is not involved.  He is also not very happy.

Let's get this straight:  Joss isn't perfect.  I haven't been very fond of the BtVS Season 8 comics he's been helming, and I ejected them from my personal canon months ago. I don't feel the need to go into the various arguments some people present about how valid Joss is as a feminist, his character-killing tendencies, the lack of Asian characters in Firefly, and the various other issues many people have with him. Some of these criticisms I agree with, some I don't.  Regardless, I maintain that (a) he is deeply tied to the Buffy franchise, and (b) problems and all, I still very much enjoy his work and trust him more than I trust maybe 97% of people writing/producing/etc. in Hollywood. Buffy the Vampire Slayer without Joss Whedon is a terrible idea.

I don't want to COMPLETELY denounce this movie before we even know casting or have any meaningful knowledge about the script.  Maybe this young woman writing it is going to do all the wonderful, thoughtful, empowering things we internet fans wish we could have in canon.  Hell, maybe she's one of us and has been producing awesome fanfic for years.  Maybe the casting will be so amazing that we can deal with the incongruity of someone else holding the wooden stake.  Maybe this film will get a whole lot of young Twilight fans to appreciate some QUALITY vampires.  That's a lot of maybes, and some of them are pretty long shots.

Mostly, I am very cynical about the chances of this film being anything other than the studio's attempt to wring some more money out of a known franchise (because god forbid anyone ever have an original idea) at the expense of all that made it beloved in the first place.  Other than Buffy herself, I am pretty sure that Warner Bros. doesn't have rights to any of the characters from the TV show, meaning that this movie will be lacking in Willow, Giles, Xander, Spike, Angel, or any of the other characters I care about so much.  The basic concept of a seemingly innocuous blond girl who slays vampires has the potential to be truly cheesy if not written well.  As stated initially, I just can't see any good reason for this reboot to exist, especially so soon. 

There are ways the Buffy franchise could be brought to the big screen that would have me excited.  Make a movie based on the Fray comics or some other Slayer (either historical or activated in Chosen).  Declare the S8 comics not canon and continue to tell the story of our Buffy some time after Chosen left off with most or all of the TV show cast present.  JUST NOT A GORRAM REBOOT!!!! 


Let me express my feelings with gifs:








Whatever nonsense comes out of the movie studio, let us remember that television Buffy is still there in our hearts and our dvds, ready to kick ass.

Comments

[kitsune17.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you.

What would be cool is if the movie were about another slayer. A 1950's era slayer or something like the "Tales of A Slayer" book series.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

Yes! I would be happy with a movie about another slayer set in the Buffy universe. There's all sorts of concepts to explore. I still think such a movie ought to involve Joss, but it wouldn't be such an automatic FAIL if it didn't.

[mysticalchild_isis]

I'm so very with you. Also, this Riot Nrrd comic is awesome in discussing Joss Whedon Joss Whedon Puppy.

I am so sick of this rebooting of everything, especially things that haven't even been over very long. So many of them are terrible, and when they are bad, it almost feels like an attack on the awesomeness of the original.

Dear Hollywood: ORIGINAL IDEAS. GET THEM PLEASE.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

That Puppy Joss comic explains the situation so well. Thanks for the link!

There have been some good reboots, but they are definitely the minority. You're exactly right that a bad reboot feels like an attack on the original. I despise this impulse to rebuild something that isn't broken or worn out, especially when the new parts may well be lower quality than the original. I wish Hollywood would get the message that it is possible to tell an entirely new tale that still incorporates many of the elements people like about BtVS (powerful and complex female characters, witty dialog, etc.).

[cloudtrader.livejournal.com]

Wow, rebooting Buffy... it really does seem so wrong. I'd love to see a Slayer from another era or whatnot, but Buffy in particular? Meh.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

Exactly! There are loads of stories that could be told in the Buffy universe about other slayers. I'd see that happily. Trying to redo our Buffy is fixing something that isn't broken, rebuilding using parts that might not be as high quality.

[vervet-monkey.livejournal.com]

What?!

Ummm, no thank you? I mean it's a nice thought and all, but really, it's fine as it is...

Grrrr...